2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s strategic vision for economic development in the Heads of the Valleys? OAQ55276

I thank the Member for that question, Llywydd. The Welsh Government's strategy for economic development in the Heads of the Valleys focuses on investment in places, people and in infrastructure. In that way, we support new jobs in industries of the future, in which improved productivity feeds prosperity in that part of Wales.

I recognise, First Minister, that the work of the Welsh Government is currently focused on the coronavirus, and the impact that's having on people across the whole of the country. And I think many people are grateful to you for your leadership in addressing these matters. But in terms of the wider economic issues, I had an excellent meeting last week with the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, where we discussed the opportunities that are there across the whole of the Heads of the Valleys, and where we're able to target investment in ensuring that we have the economic infrastructure to sustain employment and industrial activity into the future. Clearly, all our minds are on other matters at the moment, but could you, First Minister, outline your vision for how we can ensure that, when we're getting the country back on its feet again, after this crisis, we will continue to invest in areas such as the Heads of the Valleys, and that that investment will continue post the crisis that we're currently facing?

Llywydd, can I thank Alun Davies for that? Of course, he is right that we are focused relentlessly on the challenge that is immediately in front of us. But there will be a future for Wales, and for the United Kingdom, the other side of coronavirus, and we have to continue to do what we can to make sure that the opportunities that we need for the future are still being thought about, still being promoted, where we are able to do that. I thank the Member for Blaenau Gwent for coming to that meeting last week, and for contributing to the pool of ideas that we will need, to make sure that the economy of the Heads of the Valleys area in Wales is as equipped as it can be to meet the opportunities that the future will bring.

That's why, in the strategy that we are pursuing, we continue to attract cutting-edge technology companies to that part of Wales, but also, Llywydd, to focus on existing local businesses, helping them to apply new technologies and processes, to improve productivity, to develop higher value products, and to diversify their consumer base. And there is a very specific piece of work that the Welsh Government wants to continue to do with our partners in that part of Wales, to increase productivity in those indigenous businesses. And that's why we are working with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Coleg Gwent, and Cardiff University, to translate into the workplace the ideas we know are there, and which can make those firms more productive, and therefore better able to take advantage of future economic opportunities. And even in the difficult days ahead, I know that there are very dedicated people in that part of Wales who will want to continue their efforts in that direction.

Under the current circumstances, it's right and proper that the Government's efforts are focused solely on the coronavirus, and the support that can be given, both in the health field, but in the economy as well. Meeting businesses in my own region yesterday, along with the constituency Member for the Vale of Glamorgan, information obviously is the gold dust that those businesses are crying out for. And I welcome the support that the Minister has put on the table around business rates today, but the caveat around that support was that more information will be coming, how it will be delivered into businesses. Can you give us a timeline when that support might be made available to businesses, and the mechanism it will be delivered in? Because, as I said, this isn't a criticism; this is a plea from the meeting that we held yesterday that the gold dust that businesses require at the moment to make informed choices about the employment status of employees and the direction of their businesses, is how that support and when that support will be available. 

Well, I thank Andrew R.T. Davies for that and I heard, indeed, from my colleague, Jane Hutt, of the meeting that she and he attended in Cowbridge yesterday. What yesterday's announcement makes clear, Llywydd, is that every penny that has comes to Wales through the UK Government for business support will be spent for those purposes here in Wales. 

We took a major decision in relation to business rate relief, and that has taken the bulk of the money that has come to Wales. We remain in discussion with the Treasury about the use of the Barnett formula, as the way to distribute that resource across the United Kingdom, because we have more than the ordinary share of small businesses in particular in Wales, and we are putting the argument to the Treasury that the way that funding is distributed should reflect the realities of need on the ground, rather than a formula, which everybody has agreed, is long past its effective use. 

What we have left out of the sum of money that came in the budget, when we've made the decisions on business rate relief, is just over £100 million. We hope that that sum will go up as a result of our discussions with the Treasury, but we are in discussions this week with businesses, and my colleague, Ken Skates, particularly, meeting the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors, the Chambers of Commerce, Road Haulage Association and so on in order to get a strong sense from them about the most effective way in which that £100 million can be deployed. 

If there is no further money, we will make decisions about the deployment of the £100 million as fast as we can. We thought that it was right to make sure that the voice of businesses is directly put to us, so that if there are better ideas than the ones we already have in the mix, we learn them from them, make the decisions thereafter and get the money from us into the hands of people who need it.